


Truth, or Something Like It

by alamorn



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode Tag, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 22:44:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13374636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alamorn/pseuds/alamorn
Summary: The day after Frank Castle pulls her from her burning car, Dinah Madani makes a different call.





	Truth, or Something Like It

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shopfront](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopfront/gifts).



She should have called Billy. He was the better lead — he’d spent more time with Frank Castle, and his guard wasn’t up. But she found herself calling Karen Page instead.

Karen picked up after three rings, and her tone was cool, professional. “Agent Madani.”

“Miss Page,” Dinah said. “I’d like to take you out for a drink. As an apology.”

“An apology for what?”

Dinah pressed a hand against her aching ribs. “For doubting you.”

Karen didn’t say anything for a long moment. There was the gentle sound of her breathing, and the noises of city traffic behind that. Walking, probably. “Alright,” she said. “But if this is an apology, you’re buying.”

“Fair enough,” Dinah said, and told Karen where and when to meet her.

Dinah arrived five minutes early, and got the table. She took her painkillers with a sip of wine, which was something she wouldn’t be telling her parents about. She swirled her wine in her glass while she waited, trying very hard to think.

She didn’t notice when Karen came in, but she managed not to startle when the other woman sat down. 

“Rough day?” Karen said. “You look a little distant.”

“Yeah,” Dinah said. “Sorry.”

“I kind of thought you invited me out to pump me for information,” Karen said. “Looking like that, I’m less worried.”

"Do you have something to be worried about?" Dinah asked, but it was rote. "Sorry, habit. Should I assume you wanted to try and get some information from me, off the record?"

"Off the record? Yes." Karen smiled, and a pulse of lust shot through Dinah. She'd been nervey all day. This…could be a way to deal with that.

She leaned forward over the table. Her head felt light and the pain was fuzzy and distant. "Is that the only thing you want?"

Karen tilted her head, just a little, her eyes going calculating. Then she shrugged, a languid motion that Dinah wanted to see again, when she wasn't wearing a shirt. "I want a lot of things. First, I think I want that drink you owe me. We'll see, after that."

They kept it light, as they ate and drank, talking about anything but work. Karen's foot ended up bumping forward into Dinah's ankles, so she trapped it there. Karen's lips twitched. And then, "Agent Madani, I've finished my drink." She drew her foot up from between Dinah's, shins rubbing together in a drag of skin on pantyhose. Heat throbbed between Dinah's legs, in time with her heartbeat, in time with the dull, distant pain in her ribs.

"And what do you want now, Miss Page?"

"Karen," she said. "I told you that already."

"Karen," Dinah said. She'd meant to make it low and intense, let her voice go husky. Instead, it was demanding. She'd never been good at flirtatious, or beguiling, never seen the point in it when she could be direct. "I've had a shitty day. I'd like to have a better night."

Karen's lips twitched with amusement. "I might be able to help with that."

Karen made her come twice that night, and again in the morning. It was stupid, and unprofessional, and Dinah absolutely could not bring herself to regret it at all.

When Karen found the folder with Frank Castle's name on it, she flipped through it. "I could have used this during the trial," she said absently. "Don't know if it would have made him look any better, but it would have made the PTSD angle easier to push."

"You didn't argue PTSD," Dinah said.

"No, he asked us not to, but this…" Karen made a face. "I think he just didn't want to admit it to himself. You know I've told you everything I can about Frank, right? You won't get anything else out of me just because we're sleeping together."

Dinah shrugged. "Not everything's about the case."

"Good to know," Karen said, and put the folder back. She gathered up all her stuff and only hesitated at the door. "Give me a call sometime, Agent Madani, I'd like to see you again."


End file.
